24.9.09

Finished work at Hotel about 1145 last night. Got home. Drank a beer. Went to sleep. Tossed and turned. Got up at 545. Took Mai to school; took Kaleo to school; came back and took Akoni's car to the docks to ship to Hawaii. Kekoa was very cooperative since he really had no choice, but to go with me and my BIL to the docks - "Big Fruck! big Fruck!" Yes indeed.

Back home; back out in a half hour to - pick up Kaleo and maile from school - snacks of Manapua for the guys and Maile.

Akoni moves to the Big Island of Hawaii, and I am happy; he will live with my parents and work 40 miles away in Hilo. My parents move on in age, and I have too full of a plate here, to be the right son at the right place, at the right time.

We will miss him tons, not only because he is dependable, but because he carries with him a joy for life that radiates from his soul.

I just want to be the Grandfather.

I spent 2 and a half hours on the road this morning just driving thru traffic. Delivering kids to school. After getting done with 24 hours Fire. We live on an island, and driving that long, for that short a distance is bullshit.

I am thinking of getting a bicycle.

I gotta lose weight/cholesterol/insanity.

The PinkHell is just nothing but a drag; it just well, sucks. It isnt the tourists; it is the phoniness of the management.

Dont really care for the new hires, neither. Dweebs, greeds, and "seeds".

20.9.09

Spent Saturday morning/afternoon with the 2 guys at the beach hunting tide pools and crabs and such.

Kaleo just loves the beach and the water. Kekoa is going headlong into terrible 2's stage. Nothing is OK. Everything is whine. It is alright; I just took a vow of ignoring him and trying like hell to be patient with his new found grump-dom.

We picked up some 'Opala (rubbish) and made a volcano out of sand and just walked and swam all over. They scaled the great wall of china (as it appears to them) and found hermit crabs and stuffs, little fishies and shells and sand in the face.

Before you know it they will be big and doing things on their own; I will fade away into the night, waiting for their return.

9.9.09

Lydia Lili‘u Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamaka‘eha was born on September 2, 1838, in Honolulu to high-ranking Ali‘i Analea Keohokālole and Caesar Kapa‘akea. She became the hanai child of Ali‘i Laura Konia and Abner Pakī and hanai sister of Bernice Pauahi. She was also the sister of James Kaliokalani, David Kalākaua, Anna Ka‘iulani, Ka‘imina‘auao, Miriam Likelike and William Pitt Leleiōhoku.

Young Princess Lydia Kamaka‘eha attended the boarding school run by missionary Amos Starr Cooke for the Royal Chiefs’ children from when she was four years old. When she was ten, the school closed as the result of an epidemic of measles that took the lives of about ten thousand people; most of whom were native Hawaiian, and some of whom were children who attended the Royal School. Her three-year-old sister Ka‘imina‘auao, who was the hānai daughter of Kamehameha III and Queen Kalama, also died in the epidemic.

Princess Kamaka‘eha was to be married on her 24th birthday, September 2, 1862, but due to the death of the four-year-old Crown Prince of Hawai‘i, Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kalei‘opapaakamehameha, she was asked by Kamehameha IV to postpone her wedding. Honoring the wish of the King, she was married to John Owen Dominis on the 16th of that month and then resided with her husband and his widowed mother at Washington Place.

Her brother, King Kalākaua, was appointed to the throne in February 1874, at which time he named his brother William Pitt Leleiōhoku as heir to the throne. On April 10, 1877, the day after Leleiōhoku died, Princess Lydia Kamaka‘eha was named heir apparent and received the title Lili‘uokalani. During Kalākaua’s final years of reign, wealthy plantation owners and businessmen imposed the “Bayonet Constitution” on the Hawaiian monarchy. The new constitution limited the power of the monarchy and effectively disenfranchised the Hawaiian people. Her beloved brother, passed away in 1891, and Lili‘uokalani assumed the throne.

One of her first orders of business was to amend the constitution and restore power to the monarchy and the Hawaiian people. The local sugar planters and businessmen instigated an overthrow, fearing a loss of revenue and influence by the Queen. With the help of U.S. Marines, they forced Queen Lili‘uokalani to surrender the Hawaiian Kingdom to the United States in 1893. A provisional government was established thereafter and named the Republic of Hawai‘i, proclaiming Sanford B. Dole as president.

In 1895, Lili‘uokalani was imprisoned for eight months at ‘Iolani Palace for her alleged knowledge of a counterrevolutionary attempt by her supporters, although it was never proven. Because she felt that she would never leave the palace alive, she translated Kalākaua’s Hawaiian text of the cosmogonic Hawaiian creation chant Kumulipo into English, in hopes that the rest of the world would get a glimpse of our heritage. She was later released on parole and when she received a full pardon, she went to Washington D.C. to seek help from President Grover Cleveland.

Despite all of Lili‘uokalani’s efforts, Hawai‘i was annexed by President McKinley in 1898. A few weeks later, on her 60th birthday, many loyal subjects paid a visit to their beloved Queen Lili‘uokalani at Washington Place. Many came bearing gifts; some kneeling in her presence, presented their ho‘okupu (gift), and backed out the same way they entered.

Aside from Lili‘uokalani’s role as a devoted monarch, she was also a faithful scholar and an extraordinary musician and composer. She was well versed in hymns and ballads of American and European influence, as well as traditional Hawaiian chant and prose. In her lifetime, Queen Lili‘uokalani composed more than 150 songs, including her most famous piece, “Aloha ‘Oe.”

On her 73rd birthday, Lili‘uokalani gave a birthday gift to her people. She had her Trustees set aside a piece of property near Waikahalulu Stream in Nu‘uanu, which is known today as Lili‘uokalani Garden.

Hawai‘i lost its last ruling monarch on November 11, 1917 (same day my TutuKane (grandpa) died), when Lili‘uokalani died of a stroke at the age of 79 at Washington Place. At midnight, the “Royal Rain” (considered a blessing) fell on the procession lightly as her body was taken from Washington Place to the Throne Room of ‘Iolani Palace where she lay in state. When the procession arrived at ‘Iolani Palace, there was a rumble of intermittent thunder that was looked upon as a good hō‘ailona or omen. At midnight of the following day, her body, preceded by the flaming torch (the emblem of the Kalākaua Dynasty) and sacred kahili, was taken to Kawaiaha‘o Church where she lay in state for the next seven days. Her remains were then taken in a procession along King Street and then up Nu‘uanu Avenue and placed in the Royal Mausoleum at Mauna ‘Ala.

Through the years, Lili‘uokalani never faltered in her commitment to the people of Hawai‘i. In her will, she entrusted her estate to provide for orphan children of Hawaiian blood, amended later to include “other destitute children.” Her legacy is perpetuated today through the Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center and the Queen Lili‘uokalani Trust.

Amazing amount of petrol runs these 2, I cant imagine what it is that revs them, but enthusiasim is or sure, one. Kaleo is more reserved now that he is in pre-school, he seems to be just fine with the seperation factor, then he cries just when we have to leave. I think it is more of a show than actual sadness.

Kekoa on the other hand has a personality that is just starting to show. Destroyer; he is. Not only is he solid as a rock, and eats like a bottomless pit, but he barrels thru everything.

In that is the reason for B&N perhaps closing its doors for a bit. Either that or we are gonna be 86'd from there. He ran and turned, and ran and blitzed, and ran and plowed around the place in 2 minutes he probably made 15 laps around then damn store. He knocked stuff over (put it back on his own tho') made a bee-line for the Cafe that is there, and window shopped for what he wanted to eat. Of course there it was, the holy grail of confection, SUGAR COOKIES! Then back to running laps around the store.

We found the childrens section, (while making a sprint for the frog sculpture) and headed in to peruse a book. Kaleo wanted to read about spiders (ACK!) and Kekoa was fine and dandy with jumping of the small stage they have for story time. He knew it was for kids because "small chair, Papa" and "Pooh....Pooh" was emblazed on the walls. After pretty much eliminating all other kids from the area; I guess it is hard to hang when a brute is leering over your shoulder, even if heis 2 feet tall. We made a exit for the Cafe to eat a cookie.